


Rose to the Challenge

by am_i_write



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, Kuroo is a softie, M/M, One-Shot, Tsukki doesn't want to be a softie, a dozen red roses, but he is too, coarse language, questionable decisions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 00:50:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11772018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/am_i_write/pseuds/am_i_write
Summary: Kuroo comes home with a surprise.





	Rose to the Challenge

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a 1k maximum warmup piece just to help me with the major writer's block I'm suffering from for an ongoing piece. Whoops.
> 
> Well, I hope you enjoy~

Kuroo unlocked the door, then slowly toed it open as he checked to see if the coast was clear. _Fuck_. He'd been hoping that Tsukki would be reading in the bedroom, but alas he was out in the living room on his laptop.

 _It'll be fine,_  Kuroo reminded himself. He had a backup plan for a reason, after all.

"Hello, my darling Kei," Kuroo greeted, not yet stepping through the door. The blonde glanced over the tops of his glasses at his boyfriend, a move which he _knew_  Kuroo was weak for, that asshole. "What are you up to this fine evening?"

"I'm finishing up my paper on variable manipulation in statistics," Tsukki replied, narrowing his eyes. "Which you already knew."

"Ah yes, how could I forget such an interesting topic?" Kuroo said, blowing a kiss at his boyfriend's annoyed tch.

"Why aren't you coming in?" Tsukki said, closing his laptop and setting it aside. He leaned back against the couch, stretching his long legs out in front of him, and for a moment Tetsurou's breath caught. _That bastard,_  Kuroo thought. He wanted nothing more than to run over and kiss him right then and there, but he had a plan to execute _damn it._  Kuroo tore his eyes away, ignoring Tsukki's smirk.

"Well, if you wanted to ruin the surprise, then good work," Kuroo muttered, hoping that his acting skills were good enough that Tsukki wouldn't notice. He finally entered the room, finally displaying the dozen red roses in his hands. "Surprise!"

"What's the occasion?" Tsukki asked, raising a single brow. Kuroo deflated a little; despite this being no more than a decoy, he'd been hoping to get at least a little more of a reaction out of him. After all, each time Tsukki did something even slightly romantic towards him, he absolutely fell apart into a blushing mess. One time he'd come home to a tuxedo-clad Tsukki who had made him a dinner with candles and actual food and all that fancy shit, and Tetsurou had almost burst into tears for goodness sake. And now he wasn't even batting an eye at a dozen fucking red roses? Asshole.

"Does there need to be an occasion?" Kuroo said, attempting to whisk away his disappointment. In hindsight, he really should have made a plan C, but who had the time for that? Picking out flowers had been hard enough that he'd just defaulted to roses, though his wallet wasn't too impressed. "I just want to make sure my boyfriend knows I love him."

"I don't even particularly like flowers," Tsukki said, but he pushed himself off the couch nonetheless. Good enough; this could work after all.

"C'mon," Kuroo said, handing the flowers to his boyfriend. He had to say, Kei looked positively ethereal with the deep red of the roses against his pale complexion and hair. Compliments would have to wait for later though; Tsukki was prone to kissing Kuroo to make him shut up whenever he complimented him—stupid insecure bastard—and Kuroo simply oculdn't afford the time to get carried away. "Everyone likes flowers. They're beautiful and they smell nice, much like you!"

"They're so pointless. They just sit there until they die," Tsukki said, paused and tilted his head to one side, then added, "much like you."

Kuroo gasped, embedding just enough theatrics into his expression to make Tsukki roll his eyes. "I've been out working _all day,_  then I get you flowers, and now you act like I'm lazy?"

"How about the time I asked you to get laundry soap and you bought hand soap, hm?" Tsukki asked, smirking the way he always did when Kuroo did something stupid. "You didn't even bother to look if there were other soaps, you just went and bought the first thing you could find with the word 'soap' on it."

"That was months ago," Kuroo whined, outwardly pouting but inwardly pleased that Tsukki's suspicion seemed to have dissipated. "And I mean, it's soap! Why can't there be one universal soap? It's all for cleaning."

"Tch," Tsukki muttered, but left it at that. This incident had been brought up a lot, and they only ever went in circles by this point. He turned and started walking to the kitchen, presumably to put the flowers in a vase, and Kuroo could practically feel the satisfying _click!_  of all the pieces of his plan coming together.

Creeping back to the door, he cautiously pushed it open again. Kuroo glanced over his shoulder, affording himself a moment to savour how cute Tsukki looked with his sleeves push up to his elbows as he filled the jar with water. Then he bent down, picked up the box, and crept back inside.

After toeing the door closed behind him, he crept over to his favourite armchair, set the box back down, and lifted off the lid. He gingerly removed the contents and set it over his lap, crossing his legs for extra nonchalance. He glanced over to the kitchen, watching as Tsukki carefully arranged the roses.

Seeming satisfied, Tsukki turned back around to bring the vase to the living room. He set it down on the coffee table, and Kuroo held his breath.

Tsukki turned to him.

He froze.

His eyes widened ever so slightly.

Kuroo sent him a small grin; it was not returned.

"Why the fuck are you holding a cat?" Tsukki said, voice dangerously low. His eyes were cold, but they didn't hold the anger Kuroo knew they could hold, so he counted it as a win.

"Oh, this little guy?" Kuroo said, holding up the fluffy calico kitten in his arms. "We've had him for years," Kuroo said, then gave a mock gasp. "Huh? You don't remember Neko?"

"Don't play games," Tsukishima hissed, eyes narrowing. "And really? The cat's name is Cat?"

"Hey! He's named after my old high school, thank you very much," Kuroo said. Lifting the cat to his eye level, he added, "Isn't that right, Neko? You're named after _treasured memories._  I met Tsukki when I was going to Nekoma, after all."

"Don't play games with me," Tsukki repeated. "Why are you holding a cat? We've discussed this before, and we came to the agreement that we wouldn't get one. Explain."

"I'm sorry, Tsukki," Kuroo said, hoping that his expression and tone conveyed how earnest he was. He really didn't like going behind Tsukki's back, after all, but he had to get him to understand. "You know Bokuto is working at the animal rescue centre now, right?"

"Of course," Tsukki replied, finally giving up on looming over Kuroo in favour of slumping on the couch instead. "You visit him there practically every day."

"Well," Kuroo said, petting Neko. The cat had begun to purr, and he had to try very hard not to look affected. "I was going to drop in and say hi to Bo today, but he was all distressed and upset. So I asked him what was wrong, and it all because of this cat. You see, Neko here is absolutely terrified of dogs. Each time one of the dogs barked, he would flinch. When Bokuto took me to see him, he was just cowering in the corner. Bo's not in charge though, and the manager of the shelter refused to move the cat somewhere quieter because no one would adopt him if they couldn't see him. Bo wanted to take the cat in himself, but he and Akaashi already have a dog and two cats, so not only would Akaashi definitely say no, but Neko would be too scared of the dog anyway.

"The cat had already been there for a full week, and everybody kept passing him by because of how scared he was. I know you weren't sure you even liked cats, but please give him a chance. Bo said I could take him back if you said no, but I really wanted you to meet him in an environment in which he's actually comfortable." Kuroo sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. "I'm sorry I went behind your back, but I couldn't just leave him there."

There were several beats of silence.

"I see." The look on Tsukki's face was indecipherable. His eyebrows were a bit creased and his lip was drawn slightly up, but he didn't look outright angry.

"Will you pet him?" Kuroo asked, carefully getting up and settling back down beside Tsukki. Neko made a soft cry at being jostled, but the purrs quickly resumed once he was curled up in Kuroo's lap once more.

Tsukki raised a hand hesitantly, and Kuroo guided it down to rest on Neko's back. He began to stroke the cat lightly, and Kuroo could have sworn there was a small smile on his lips. He was desperate to know if Tsukki would acquiesce, but he stayed silent.

"He," Tsukki began, then cut off. "He kind of reminds me of Tadashi."

Kuroo blinked, then stared at the kitten in his lap quizzically. The small calico kitten didn't seem to resemble his boyfriend's best friend at all. "Yamaguchi?"

Tsukki nodded. "When I first met him, Tadashi was very shy and easily frightened. He warms up quickly when shown friendship and compassion, though, and he has grown much more confident over the years. He also made a very competent captain. I hope this cat may have the same fortune if he is treated well."

"Is that a yes?" Kuroo said before he could stop himself. He'd told himself that he wouldn't push Tsukki, but it was near impossible.

Tsukki sighed, then reached over and gently moved the cat into his own arms. The kitten blinked sleepily at him, then snuggled right into his arm. Tsukki _definitely_  smiled a bit that time. "His name will be Kenma, not fucking _Cat_."

"Thank you, Tsukki!" Kuroo cried, only resisting the urge to launch himself into his boyfriend's arms because of the cat. Then he paused, considering. "I'm not sure how I feel about giving him a human name, though."

"And I'm not sure how I feel about owning a cat," Tsukki snapped, but Kuroo could only snort. Though the blonde's words were sharp, the soft look in his eyes as he gently rubbed the cat's cheek really undermined the implied threat.

"Sure," Kuroo snickered, ignoring Tsukki's glare. "Why not name him Tadashi, then? You know Yamaguchi would be honoured."

"I don't want to have to explain that to him," Tsukki said with a scoff. "And besides, when I say 'Tadashi' I don't want to have to state who I'm talking about. Kenma suits him."

"Okay, okay. Kenma it is," Kuroo said, leaning over to kiss Tsukki on the cheek. "Thank you, Kei."

"You have a lot of nerve, making decisions behind my back on something we'd already agreed not to do," Tsukki said, then sighed. "I suppose he is kind of cute, though. But did you really think you could distract me with roses?"

"I was just hoping that if you saw him snuggled in my arms being all cute and wonderful, it would be more convincing than me waltzing in here with a box," Kuroo said with a shrug. Then he grinned and added, "I wasn't too nervous, though. After all, I know you have a thing for cats."

Tsukki groaned at Kuroo's wink. "I can't believe I agreed to this."

"Dating me or taking care of a cat?" Kuroo asked, and snickered at Tsukki's glare. "I'll take that as both."

Tsukki muttered something Kuroo didn't catch, then stared down at Kenma as he slept in his arms. "Raising a cat is hard work, you know."

"Yes, but I'm glad we agreed to _rose_  to the challenge," Kuroo said, grinning at his own pun.

"That's not even proper grammar," Tsukki mumbled, kicking Kuroo's shin lightly. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch. "Go get cat food and a litter pan and whatever else we might need. Also get some takeout while you're at it; I'm hungry, and I don't want to wait for you to make something when you get back."

"Mmm? You don't want to cook?" Kuroo teased. When Tsukki peeped one eye open to glare at him, Kuroo bent down to give his sleepy boyfriend a kiss on the forehead. "Yeah, yeah. Take a nap with Kenma while I'm gone; you both look like you could use one."

"Your shitty personality is wearing us both out," the blonde muttered, and Kuroo could only grin at his boyfriend's half-assed attempt at an insult.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be back soon, Kei."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave any feedback you have in the comments~
> 
> My family adopted our cat because she was terrified of all the loud noises in the rescue shelter, so this fic is for you, Clem <3


End file.
